Andrew Baird was arrested around 12:30 a.m. Saturday when police were called to the home on Route 259 in rural Bolivar. Police didn't announce the arrest until Wednesday.

Baird became combative after drinking a bottle of whiskey and began hitting dishes and furniture with the 17-inch steel weapon before grabbing the woman by the face, police said.

"She described the machete as being held to her cheek," Trooper Stephen Limani said. "He had it by the handle, holding the sharp point up against her face, and he said, 'I'd love to chop your head off.' The children fled the residence during the destruction of the furniture and property, and she was able to get free and, ultimately, a 911 phone call."

Limani said Baird was "highly intoxicated" when troopers arrived at the home and saw a fifth of Jack Daniels, and the furniture and dishes that had been chopped into pieces.

"It was one of the most destroyed, dilapidated houses that they've been in in their careers, so that gives you an idea of the destruction that might have happened from one person in a rage," Limani said.

Baird, 41, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on charges of terroristic threats and harassment on July 6. He is free on $1,000 unsecured bond.

Nobody answered the door at the home when Channel 4 Action News reporter Bob Mayo went there on Wednesday afternoon.

In January, Baird pleaded guilty to a charge of terroristic threats against the same woman in a case that involved a gun and a dagger, not a machete.

Court records show that the conditions of his probation sentence included anger management classes, no abusive contact and no consumption of alcohol or drugs.